Layanan Inovatif, Drone Antar Obat untuk Pasien Covid-19 di Makassar
In Indonesia, Drone Deliveries Provide Lifeline for Isolating COVID Patients
Editor : Kemal A Praghotsa
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
KOMUNITAS pecinta drone atau pesawat nirawak bernama Makassar Recover Medic Drone, ikut turun tangan membantu masyarakat yang menjalani isolasi mandiri di rumah, dengan menggunakan drone untuk mengirimkan obat-obatan dan makanan.
Tim yang beranggotakan tujuh orang, berbekal lima drone, telah menyediakan jasa pengiriman di Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan, sejak awal Juni lalu.
Warga Makassar, Hartati, menyambut baik layanan inovatif tersebut. "Saya pikir obat yang diterima dari drone lebih steril," kata Hartati yang sedang menjalani isolasi mandiri sejak pertengahan Agustus bersama keluarganya.
Menurutnya, sistem pengiriman menggunakan drone dapat menghindari kontak langsung saat menerima barang.
Keluarga yang beranggotakan empat orang itu tinggal di daerah yang 80 persen penduduknya positif COVID-19, menurut data dari Satuan Tugas Covid-19 Makassar [Satgas Covid-19 Makassar].
Pendiri Makassar Recover Medic, Muhammad Dasysyara Dahra mengatakan, timnya bekerja sama dengan Satgas Covid-19 Makassar untuk mengirimkan obat-obatan setidaknya lima kali sehari. Namun, selama puncak wabah Covid-19 pada bulan Juli, mereka melakukan pengiriman hingga 25 kali dalam satu hari.
“Misi ini menjadi kebanggaan tersendiri. Tidak setiap hari kita dibutuhkan dan berpartisipasi dalam penanggulangan bencana untuk menanggulangi penyebaran COVID-19,” katanya.
Kemudian, Walikota Makassar, Mohammad Ramdhan Pomato, mengatakan pemerintah kota berencana untuk memperluas penggunaan drone ke pulau-pulau terdekat dan juga menyediakan pengiriman ke sekitar 800 orang yang tinggal dalam isolasi di kapal, seperti dikutip Reuters yang dilansir MailOnline.
"Jaraknya [masing-masing] drone sekitar tujuh kilometer, sehingga memungkinkan untuk mencapai pulau-pulau itu," kata Pomato.
A GROUP of drone enthusiasts in Indonesia are using their aerial skills to help during the pandemic by providing a contactless medicine and food delivery service to COVID-19 patients isolating at home.
Armed with five drones, the seven-member team have been working around the clock in Makassar, the capital of the South Sulawesi province, since early July to provide deliveries.
Hartati, who along with her family, has been self-isolating since she tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-August, welcomed the innovative service.
"I think the medicine received from a drone is more sterile," said the 50-year-old housewife, who uses one name, noting how the system avoided the need for any direct contact when receiving goods.
The family of four is living in an area where up to 80 percent of residents are COVID-19 positive, according to data from Makassar's coronavirus task force. Indonesia is one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic in Asia.
The 'Makassar Recover Drone Medic' team is working with the local coronavirus task force to deliver medicine at least five times a day, said its founder and coordinator Muhammad Dasysyara Dahyar. During the peak of the latest outbreak in July, they made up to 25 rounds of deliveries in one day.
Mobility restrictions remain in place in many Indonesian cities, including Makassar, in a bid to contain a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the Delta variant.
Indonesia has reported more than four million cases and 131,000 fatalities since the pandemic started.
Makassar's mayor Mohammad Ramdhan Pomato said authorities planned to expand the use of drones to nearby islands and also provide deliveries to around 800 people staying in isolation in a ship. "The range of (each) drone is around seven kilometres (4.35 miles), so it is possible to reach the islands," said Pomato.
The drones also help monitor traffic and the movement of people in the city and pinpoint areas to target with COVID-19 tests.
"This mission is a matter of pride. It's not every day that we are needed and participate in disaster management to tackle the spread of COVID-19," said the drone team's founder Dahyar.
